Copyright Photo: David Apps. Airbus A319-131 G-EUPX (msn 1445) arrives back at Heathrow sporting a football (soccer) nose cone. The football nose was applied to support England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup. David Beckham flew on G-EUPX to Zurich a couple of weeks ago to present the UK's bid to FIFA headquarters.

British Airways (London) will be forced to endure a five-day strike this week by its 12,000 cabin crew members led by the Unite union. The two parties failed to reach a compromise over the weekend. The union has begun a five-day strike, increasing the pressure on CEO Willie Walsh who wants to cut staff and wages in order to reverse record losses.

BA has cancelled flights scheduled to fly around 25,000 people a day during the strike, including 40 percent of its long-haul services from Heathrow Airport.

BA issued the following statement:

“We are very disappointed that Unite have gone ahead with strike action from 24 May to 29 May.

We will continue to keep as many of you flying as possible.

We would like to apologise if you are affected by the strike. We will do all we can to minimise the disruption to you.

We will update ba.com with further changes as soon as possible and would recommend that you regularly check the
status of your flight.”